coronavirus

United States (US) financial giant JPMorgan strikes terms for taking 100 percent stake in its Shanghai mutual fund joint venture (JV). US trade bodies write to US Department of Commerce head to warn about adverse effects of contemplated changes to US export controls of semiconductors and semiconductor equipment to China, stressing for the first time the importance of chips in healthcare equipment. Reported attempted Board coup at United Kingdom (UK) graphic chipmaker Imagination Technologies blocked by UK government. China rejects reported charge that it was donating masks to France on the condition Huawei could participate in France’s 5G network. Japan prepares massive supplemental budget to facilitate Japanese firms leaving China for Japan or Southeast Asia. Indonesia’s partial lockdown in Jakarta drives Japanese firms to temporary shutter their factories there. Korean regulatory authorities will conduct a comprehensive review of Germany’s Delivery Hero’s acquisition of Woowa Brothers, the operator of food delivery app Baemin. India’s Mahindra & Mahindra says it will not inject fresh funding into SsangYong Motor.

The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) has issued more than 6400 force majeure certificates to help suppliers deal with their inability to meet their contractual obligations. Per China’s Ministry of Commerce, Chinese outward foreign direct investment (FDI) for the first two months of 2020 totaled USD $15.5 billion, a 1.8 percent year-over-year (YOY) increase. China’s MOFCOM reports that Chinese companies put $2.72 billion into 48 countries along the Belt and Road, an 18.3 percent jump YOY. Chinese construction companies prove adept at rapidly building hospitals in countries facing medical infrastructure challenges in coronavirus era. In the first defense product export deal since Japan eased its arms trade ban in 2014, Mitsubishi will sell air radar systems to the Philippines. In an atmosphere where automobile companies are expected to help by producing supplies to deal with Covid-19, Toyota North America moves to step up production of related goods. Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics get exemptions to send engineers to their plants in Vietnam. US International Trade Commissions released documents explaining its default judgement supporting LG Chem’s accusations of trade secret theft by SK Innovation.

China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) notes China will strive to help foreign businesses resume normal operations, will shorten the negative list for foreign direct investment (FDI), and will advance major foreign-invested projects. Shanghai city government highlights that major foreign financial firms continue to inject FDI into the brokerage, asset management, and securities sectors, among others, despite the Covid-19 epidemic. China State Construction Engineering Corporation places first tower cap in mega skyscraper project for Egypt’s new administrative capital, part of the Belt and Road Initiative. Japan’s Ministry of Finance starts to solicit public comment on future revisions to the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act. List of Japanese companies suspending operations at factories in the United States (US) due to coronavirus grows. Korea Rail Network Authority (KRNA) wins a bid from Thailand to manage a high-speed railway linking three airports. Hyundai Rotem, a subsidiary of Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group, ordered by Brazil’s Ministry of Labor to pay large fine plus moneys due workers for failing to pay workers overtime pay.

China assures foreign investors measures to “help firms resume operations and restore supply chains” disrupted by the coronavirus epidemic will treat “foreign and domestic companies equally.” Foreign intellectual property filings (invention patents and trademarks) in China show respectable growth in 2019 over the prior year due to legal, regulatory, and processing improvements. Beijing Kunlun on the verge of fulfilling United States (US) Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to sell Grindr. CFIUS reportedly has advised US President Donald Trump to block German firm Infineon, who counts China as a major client, planned purchase of Cypress Semiconductor. Japan’s Council on Investment in the Future contemplating ways to protect the economy from supply chains disruption in China caused by the coronavirus epidemic. The Japan Institute for Overseas Investment has concluded a Memorandum of Understanding with Zambia to join a network to facilitate FDI flows to Zambia. Korea Communication Commission develops arbitration proposal that might serve as a template for resolving conflicts between content providers and service providers. Vietnam to quarantine all visitors from South Korea potentially hindering Korean companies that are becoming increasingly prominent investors there.